Method for manufacturing three-dimensional photonic structure

ABSTRACT

A three-dimensional component having cavities containing a photocurable resin material and having a structure in which a plurality of cured resin layers composed of the photo-cured resin material are stacked, is manufactured by stereolithography. Inorganic members are inserted into concave portions when the concave portions are formed before covering the cavities, each of the concave portions being at least a portion of the corresponding cavity, and the photocurable resin material remaining. When the three-dimensional component is completed, the photocurable resin material remaining in the cavity is thermally cured, thus being brought into contact with the inorganic members. In this manner, a three-dimensional photonic structure having the plurality of inorganic members precisely disposed at desired periodic positions within the resin matrix is efficiently manufactured.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional photonic structureand a method for manufacturing the three-dimensional photonic structure.In particular, the present invention relates to a method formanufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure having a pluralityof inorganic members disposed at specific locations in a resin and to athree-dimensional photonic structure produced by the method.

2. Description of the Related Art

Photonic crystals include material bodies periodically disposed in aspecific substance, each of the material bodies having a dielectricconstant that is different from the dielectric constant of the specificsubstance, and the photonic crystals completely reflect electromagneticwaves having specific wavelengths due to the mutual interference ofelectromagnetic waves. The frequencies of such electromagnetic wavesthat are completely reflected are in a specific range, which is called a“photonic band gap”.

When an electromagnetic wave enters a periodic dielectric structure, twokinds of standing waves are produced by Bragg diffraction. One standingwave oscillates in a region having a low dielectric constant, andanother standing wave oscillates in a region having a high dielectricconstant. The former has an energy level that is greater than that ofthe latter. That is, waves having energy levels between energy levels ofthe two standing waves, which have different modes from each other,cannot enter the crystal, and therefore, a photonic band gap isproduced.

Since photonic band gaps, as described above, are produced by Braggdiffraction, it is necessary that lattice constants, which arerepetition periods in periodic structures, correspond to wavelengths. Anincrease in the difference between dielectric constants increases thedifference between vibrational energy levels in dielectric phases, thusincreasing the photonic band gap. A higher dielectric constant reducesvibrational energy. As a result, the photonic band gap shifts to lowerfrequencies.

Various photonic crystals have been developed. To completely reflect athree-dimensional electromagnetic wave, it is necessary to produce aphotonic band gap in all directions. A photonic crystal that meets sucha demand includes, for example, a diamond structure. However, sincediamond structures are complicated, it is difficult to manufacture sucha diamond structure. A process for manufacturing a photonic crystal bystereolithography is presently being examined.

Examples of processes for manufacturing photonic crystals bystereolithography include the following approaches.

First, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application PublicationNo. 2000-341031 discloses a process for manufacturing a photonic crystalas follows: two-dimensional basic structures each having a plurality ofrods are formed and successively stacked to produce a photonic crystalby stereolithography with a composite material composed of aphotocurable resin containing a powdered dielectric ceramic.

Second, for example, Japanese Translation Patent Publication No.2001-502256 discloses a process in which a three-dimensional component,which is composed of a photocurable resin, having voids formed atpredetermined locations is manufactured and then a composite materialcomposed of a resin into which dielectric ceramic powders are dispersedis charged into the voids.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2001-237616 discloses a process, where stereolithography is not applied,in which a coating containing a powdered low-dielectric ceramic isprinted in a dot pattern on a green sheet containing a powderedhigh-dielectric ceramic and then the resulting green sheets are stackedand sintered.

However, the above-described processes have problems.

It is difficult to manufacture a photonic crystal that contains alow-loss dielectric having high-dielectric constant by these processesdisclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2000-341031 and Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2001-502256because, in the processes disclosed in these Patent Publications, acomposite material composed of a resin into which a powdered dielectricceramic is dispersed is used as a dielectric.

A process disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2000-341031 applies the difference between thedielectric constant of a composite material composed of a resin mixedwith a powdered dielectric ceramic and the dielectric constant of airthat is present between rods composed of the composite material. In thiscase, since the dielectric constant of the composite material isdetermined by the mixing ratio of the resin and the powdered dielectricceramic, the above-described difference between these dielectricconstants is only determined by the dielectric constant of the compositematerial. As a result, the range of the resulting photonic band gap islimited.

In each process disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2000-341031 and Japanese Translation Patent PublicationNo. 2001-502256, it is necessary to supply a liquid photocurable resinso as to form a layer having a predetermined thickness on a platform bygradually lowering the platform. Accordingly, the use of a liquidphotocurable resin having a high viscosity barely forms any shape.Hence, in a process, particularly disclosed in Japanese TranslationPatent Publication No. 2001-502256, when a powdered dielectric ceramicis mixed with a liquid photocurable resin, the content of the powdereddielectric ceramic is limited, i.e., to about 60% at an upper limit.Even when the content of the powdered dielectric ceramic is about 60%,the dielectric constant of the composite material is about ¼ or less ofthat of the dielectric ceramic used. Therefore, high contrast photoniccrystals cannot be satisfactorily produced.

On the other hand, in a process disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication Publication No. 2001-237616, since dots composed of apowdered low-dielectric ceramic are merely printed, these dots cannot beformed in substantially three-dimensional shapes. Furthermore, thesedots cannot be disposed at desired locations along the stackingdirection because of the limitation caused by the thickness of the greensheet. In addition, since the green sheets and the dots shrink whensintering, it is difficult dispose the dots at a desired period in thesintered body and so as to form a desired photonic band gap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the problems described above, preferred embodiments of thepresent invention provide a method for manufacturing a three-dimensionalphotonic structure and a three-dimensional photonic structuremanufactured by the method.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a method formanufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure having a pluralityof inorganic members composed of an inorganic material and a resinmatrix, within which the plurality of inorganic members are disposed,composed of a photocurable resin material. To overcome theabove-described problems, the method includes the following steps.

The plurality of inorganic members and a photocurable resin material areprepared. A stereolithographic step of successively and repeatedlycuring stacked layers composed of the photocurable resin material alongthe stacking direction to form a three-dimensional component such thatcavities filled with the photocurable resin material are formed atlocations to be occupied by the inorganic members in thethree-dimensional component having a structure in which the plurality ofcured resin layers composed of the photo-cured resin material arestacked, is performed. An inserting substep of inserting the inorganicmembers into concave portions when the concave portions are formedbefore closing the cavities during the stereolithographic step isperformed, each of the concave portions being at least a portion of thecorresponding cavity and having an opening through which each of theinorganic members can pass, each gap between the surface of each of theconcave portions and the corresponding inorganic member being filledwith the photocurable resin material. The photocurable resin material ineach of the gaps is thermally cured.

The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structureaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention furtherincludes the steps of generating the three-dimensional data of the shapeof the three-dimensional component in advance, generating slice datafrom the three-dimensional data, the slice data being generated byslicing the three-dimensional component in a direction that issubstantially perpendicular to the stacking direction of thethree-dimensional component, and generating raster data for scanninglaser light from the slice data, wherein, in the stereolithographicstep, the photocurable resin material is preferably cured repeatedly inthe form of layers by scanning the laser light according to the rasterdata.

Inorganic members having a dielectric constant greater than that of thephoto-cured resin material are preferably used. In this case, theinorganic members are preferably a ceramic sinter.

The photocurable resin material used is preferably capable of forming aplurality of pores within the photocurable resin.

The present invention also relates to a three-dimensional photonicstructure manufactured by the method described above.

As described above, according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, a three-dimensional component having a structure in which aplurality of cured resin layers composed of the photo-cured resinmaterial are stacked, and having cavities containing the photocurableresin material is produced by a stereolithographic step. In addition,the inorganic members are inserted into concave portions when theconcave portions are formed before closing the cavities during thestereolithographic step, each of the concave portions being at least aportion of the corresponding cavity. The photocurable resin materialremains in the concave portions. Then, the photocurable resin materialin the cavities is thermally cured. Consequently, the plurality ofinorganic members is disposed at desired periodic locations withprecision.

Furthermore, the inorganic members are prepared independently. Thus, thedielectric constants, sizes, shapes, and other aspects of the inorganicmembers may be adjusted as desired before being inserted into theconcave portions. These dielectric constants, sizes, shapes, and otheraspects are maintained in the resulting three-dimensional photonicstructure. In addition, the spaces between the plurality of inorganicmembers may be set as desired.

Consequently, with the three-dimensional photonic structure according topreferred embodiments of the present invention, the effect of a photonicband gap corresponding to desired wavelengths is obtained. Asatisfactorily wide photonic band gap is also obtained. As a result,electromagnetic waves having specific wavelengths can be shielded withhigh contrast. For example, highly efficient electromagnetic-wavefilters and electromagnetic barriers can be manufactured.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention include the steps ofgenerating the three-dimensional data of the shape of thethree-dimensional component in advance, generating slice data from thethree-dimensional data, the slice data being generated by slicing thethree-dimensional component in a direction that is substantiallyperpendicular to the stacking direction of the three-dimensionalcomponent, and generating raster data for scanning laser light from theslice data, wherein, in the stereolithographic step, the photocurableresin material is repeatedly cured in the form of layers by scanning thelaser light according to the raster data. Therefore, the preparing stepbefore the stereolithographic step and the stereolithographic step areefficiently performed.

As described above, according to preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, since dielectric constants of the inorganic members can beadjusted as desired, inorganic members having a dielectric constantgreater than that of the photo-cured resin material can be easilyprovided and used. As a result, a photonic crystal having a greaterdifference between dielectric constants can be manufactured. Therefore,the photonic band gap is easily increased.

The use of ceramic sintered bodies as the inorganic members describedabove does not produce a nonuniform distribution of the dielectricconstant within the inorganic members. Therefore, a three-dimensionalphotonic structure having a desired photonic band gap is easilymanufacturing. In addition, such inorganic members are stable withrespect to temperature and humidity.

In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the use of aphotocurable resin material capable of forming a plurality of poreswithin the photocurable resin material reduces the dielectric constantof the resin matrix in the three-dimensional photonic structure ascompared to that of a photocurable resin material having no pores.Therefore, a greater difference of the dielectric constants between theresin matrix and the inorganic members is achieved.

Other features, elements, steps, characteristics and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of preferred embodiments with reference to the attacheddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a three-dimensional photonicstructure, in which the upper portion of the three-dimensional photonicstructure is cut away, according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a step of generating slice data of athree-dimensional component in order to manufacture thethree-dimensional photonic structure shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of a stereolithograph used in astereolithographic step of manufacturing the three-dimensional photonicstructure.

FIGS. 4A-4C are fragmentary cross-sectional views of thethree-dimensional component and illustrates states at some points in thestereolithographic step performed with the stereolithograph shown inFIG. 3 in time sequence.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the propagation properties of electromagneticwaves in the three-dimensional photonic structure manufactured accordingto a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view illustrating a three-dimensionalphotonic structure according to another preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A three-dimensional photonic structure 1 according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention will now be described with referenceto FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, in order to show a portion of the inner structureof the three-dimensional photonic structure 1, the three-dimensionalphotonic structure 1 in which the upper portion of the three-dimensionalphotonic structure 1 is cut away is illustrated.

The three-dimensional photonic structure 1 is provided with a pluralityof inorganic members 2 composed of an inorganic material and a resinmatrix 3 within which the plurality of inorganic members 2 are disposed,the resin matrix 3 being composed of a photocurable resin material.

Each of the inorganic members 2 preferably has a dielectric constantthat is greater than that of the resin matrix 3 and, for example, is aceramic sinter. Examples of the high-dielectric ceramics defining theinorganic members 2 include BaTiO₃, PbTiO₃, NaVO₃, (Ba, Sr)TiO₃, KNbO₃,LiTaO₃, (Ba, Pb)ZrO₃, Pb(Mg, W)ZrO₃, Pb(Mg, Nb)ZrO₃, Pb(Zr, Ti)O₃,CaTiO₃, and TiO₂. Furthermore, the materials defining the inorganicmembers 2 are not limited to the above-described high-dielectricceramics, but also include, for example, crystals of high-dielectricmaterials (single crystals may be used) and composites composed ofhigh-dielectric materials.

As described above, the inorganic members 2 composed of high-dielectricmaterial easily has a dielectric constant that is greater than that of acomposite material composed of a resin containing a powdered dielectricceramic and achieves a uniform dielectric constant within the inorganicmembers. Alternatively, the inorganic members 2 composed of ceramicsintered bodies are stable with respect to, for example, temperature andhumidity.

In this preferred embodiment, the inorganic members 2 have sphericalshapes. However, the shapes of the inorganic members 2 are not limitedto spherical shapes, and may include, for example, prisms, polyhedrons,rhombohedrons, cones, and cylinders.

Examples of photocurable resin materials defining the resin matrix 3include epoxy photocurable resins and acrylate photocurable resins. Toadjust the dielectric constants of these photo-cured resins, forexample, dielectric ceramic particles may be mixed and dispersed intosuch resin materials.

In the three-dimensional photonic structure 1 shown in FIG. 1, only theinorganic members 2 are partially illustrated. In fact, a plurality ofinorganic members 2 are disposed so as to form, for example, a diamondstructure.

To manufacture the three-dimensional photonic structure 1 shown in FIG.1, the following steps are performed.

A three-dimensional component corresponding to the resin matrix 3 of thethree-dimensional photonic structure 1 to be manufactured is designedwith a computer-aided design (CAD) program and then converted intostereolithographic (STL) data, which is three-dimensional dataapproximated with a triangular mesh.

The STL data is loaded into a computer. As shown in FIG. 2, slice datais generated from this STL data. The slice data is generated by slicingthe three-dimensional component 4 along a plane 5 perpendicular to thestacking direction of the three-dimensional component 4.

Next, raster data is generated from the slice data. The raster datafunctions as scanning data for controlling the scan mode of laser light8, such as ultraviolet laser light, emitted from a laser light source 7equipped with the stereolithograph 6 shown in FIG. 3.

Consequently, as shown in FIG. 2, locations 9 to be three-dimensionallyoccupied by the inorganic members 2 in the three-dimensional component 4are determined.

The plurality of inorganic members 2 and the photocurable resinmaterial, both of which define the three-dimensional photonic structure1, are prepared and then a stereolithographic step is performed with thestereolithograph 6 shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of the stereolithograph 6.

The stereolithograph 6 is provided with a bath 11 containing aphotocurable resin material 10. A platform 12 for manufacturing thethree-dimensional component 4 (see FIG. 4) on the platform 12 isdisposed in the bath 11. As indicated by an arrow 13, the platform 12 isdriven so as to be gradually lowered to predetermined heights.

A scanning mirror 15, which reflects the laser light 8 emitted from thelaser light source 7 toward a liquid level 14 of the photocurable resinmaterial 10, is disposed above the platform 12. The scanning mirror 15is disposed such that an angle of reflection can be changed according tothe raster data. The laser light 8 scans along the liquid level 14 withthe mirror in directions indicated by a double headed arrow 16. Theportion of the photocurable resin material 10 scanned by the laser light8 is cured.

As shown in FIG. 3, the platform 12 is disposed so as to supply theliquid photocurable resin material 10 between the platform 12 and theliquid level 14 to form a layer having a predetermined thickness, forexample, about 100 μm. The liquid level 14 is adjusted by a squeegee andthen the excess of the photocurable resin material 10 is returned to thebath 11. In this state, the laser light 8 scans across the photocurableresin material 10 according to the above-described raster data, suchthat the photocurable resin material 10 is cured into a cured resinlayer 17 at the portion irradiated with the laser light 8.

Next, the platform 12 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow13 so as to resupply the photocurable resin material 10 between theresulting cured resin layer 17 and the liquid level 14 to form a layerhaving a predetermined thickness. Then, the laser light 8 is rescanedaccording to the raster data. In this manner, another cured resin layer17 composed of the photo-cured resin material 10 is formed.

As described above, the formation of the cured resin layer 17 irradiatedwith the laser light 8 and the downward transfer of the platform 12 arerepeated. In this manner, the three-dimensional component 4 including aplurality of cured resin layers 17 composed of the photo-cured resinmaterial 10 that are stacked is produced by successively curing stackedlayers composed of the photocurable resin material 10 from one end alongthe stacking direction.

When the three-dimensional component 4 is manufactured by theabove-described stereolithographic step, as shown in FIGS. 4A-4C,cavities 18 are formed at locations to be occupied by the inorganicmembers 2. The cavity 18 is filled with the photocurable resin material10. FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate states that occur during thestereolithographic step; in particular, FIG. 4 (A) illustrates a statebefore covering the cavity 18.

As shown in FIG. 4 (A), when concave portions 20, each of which is to beincluded in at least a portion of the corresponding cavity 18 andincludes an opening 19 through which each of the inorganic members 2 canpass, are completed before covering the cavities 18, as shown in FIG. 4(B), the inorganic members 2 are inserted into the respective concaveportions 20. At this time, the photocurable resin material 10 remainsbetween the surface of each of the concave portions 20 and thecorresponding inorganic material member 2.

In the step of inserting the inorganic members 2 into the concaveportions 20 described above, the photocurable resin material 10 in eachconcave portion 20 can overflow from the opening 19. When such anoverflow of the photocurable resin material 10 is undesired, theoverflowed photocurable resin material 10 may be removed with, forexample, a squeegee.

After inserting the inorganic members 2 as described above, thestereolithographic step is subsequently performed. As shown in FIG. 4(C), the concave portions 20 are covered with the respective cured resinlayers 17 to form cavities 18.

In this preferred embodiment with reference to FIGS. 4A-4C, each of theinorganic members 2 is inserted when each of the concave portions 20having a size capable of accommodating the entire inorganic member 2 isformed. Alternatively, each of the inorganic members 2 may be insertedinto the corresponding concave portion 20 when each of the concaveportions 20 having a size capable of accommodating, for example, onlythe lower half of the inorganic member 2 is formed.

Alternatively, when the photocurable resin material 10 has a lowviscosity, the inorganic members 2 may be disposed at predeterminedlocations in the cured resin layers 17 before the substantial formationof the concave portions 20, and then the cavities 19 may be formed.

Consequently, a three-dimensional component 4 in which the plurality ofthe cured resin layers 17 are stacked is manufactured, thethree-dimensional component 4 also includes a plurality of cavities 18disposed at predetermined locations, the inorganic members 2 are locatedin the respective cavities 18, and the photocurable resin material 10 ischarged in each of the cavities 18.

Next, a step of thermally curing the photocurable resin material 10 inthe cavities 18 is performed. In this thermal curing step, heattreatment is performed, for example, at about 60° C. for about 4 hours.Each of the inorganic members 2 is brought into contact with thephotocurable resin material 10 by this thermal curing step. When thephotocurable resin material 10 is not cured and is not in contact witheach inorganic member 2, low-dielectric portions are formed around therespective inorganic members 2. As a result, a photonic band gapsometimes cannot be formed as desired.

A three-dimensional photonic structure 1 that has a lattice constant ofabout 12 mm and inorganic members 2, each having a spherical shape andhaving a diameter of about 3 mm, composed of stabilized zirconia wasmanufactured as an example of the present invention by theabove-described manufacturing method. This three-dimensional photonicstructure 1 was placed in a waveguide, and then its electromagneticpropagation properties were measured. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, awide photonic band gap was observed.

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view illustrating a three-dimensionalphotonic structure 21 according to another preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

In FIG. 6, the hatched portions represent regions 22 containinginorganic members disposed at a constant period, as shown in FIG. 1,while the other portion represents a defect region 23 containing noinorganic members and thus no lattice. The defect region 23 may beformed entirely or partially along a layer.

The method according to preferred embodiments of the present inventioncan be easily performed even for the three-dimensional photonicstructure 21 including the defect region 23, as shown in FIG. 6.

As described above, the present invention is described with reference tothe preferred embodiments. The present invention can be modified withinthe scope of the present invention.

For example, a three-dimensional photonic structure 1 having a pluralityof pores within a resin matrix 3 may be manufactured with a photocurableresin material 10 including hollow microcapsules. In this case, a resinmatrix 3 having a lower dielectric constant can be obtained.

In the above-described preferred embodiments, each of the inorganicmembers 2 has a dielectric constant greater than that of the resinmatrix 3. On the contrary, for example, by using a resin matrix 3containing high-dielectric ceramic particles, each of the inorganicmembers 2 may have a dielectric constant less than that of the resinmatrix 3.

In this manner, the combination of the dielectric constants of theinorganic material portion and the resin matrix can be selected toadjust the photonic band gap as desired.

In the above-described preferred embodiments, a plurality of inorganicmembers 2, which have the same size and are composed of the samematerial as each other, are disposed in the three-dimensional photonicstructure 1. Alternatively, at least two kinds of inorganic members,which have different sizes and/or are composed of different materialsfrom each other, may be provided. That is, the photonic band gap isgenerated when inorganic members having the same size and the samematerial are merely disposed at a constant period. Therefore, even whena plurality of kinds of inorganic members are disposed in onethree-dimensional photonic structure, among these inorganic members,inorganic members having the same size and being composed of the samematerial only need to be disposed at a constant period.

In the above-described preferred embodiments, each of the cavities has ashape corresponding to the shape of the respective inorganic members.For example, when inorganic members, each having a spherical shape, areinserted, each of the cavities may have a cylinder shape. That is, eachof the cavities does not always have a shape corresponding to the shapeof the respective inorganic member, provided that the desired locationsare maintained.

A three-dimensional photonic structure according to various preferredembodiments of the present invention can be used to manufacture, forexample, highly efficient electromagnetic-wave filters andelectromagnetic-wave barriers, which are required for shieldingelectromagnetic waves having specific wavelengths with high contrast.

While the present invention has been described with respect to preferredembodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thedisclosed invention may be modified in numerous ways and may assume manyembodiments other than those specifically set out and described above.Accordingly, it is intended by the appended claims to cover allmodifications of the invention which fall within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

1. A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure comprising a plurality of inorganic members composed of an inorganic material and a resin matrix within which the plurality of inorganic members are disposed, the resin matrix being composed of a photo-cured resin material, the method comprising the steps of: preparing the plurality of inorganic members and a photocurable resin material; successively and repeatedly performing a stereolithographic step for curing stacked layers composed of the photocurable resin material along a stacking direction to form a three-dimensional component such that cavities are formed at locations to be occupied by the inorganic members in the three-dimensional component having a structure in which the plurality of cured resin layers composed of the photo-cured resin material are stacked; filling the cavities with the photocurable resin material; inserting the inorganic members into concave portions of the cavities before closing the cavities during the stereolithographic step, each of the concave portions being at least a portion of the corresponding cavity and having an opening through which each of the inorganic members can pass, each gap between the surface of each of the concave portions and the corresponding inorganic member being filled with the photocurable resin material; and thermally curing the photocurable resin material remaining in the cavities.
 2. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of: generating three-dimensional data of the shape of the three-dimensional component in advance; generating slice data from the three-dimensional data, the slice data being generated by slicing the three-dimensional component in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the stacking direction of the three-dimensional component; and generating raster data for scanning laser light from the slice data, wherein, in the stereolithographic step, the photocurable resin material is repeatedly cured in the form of layers by scanning the laser light according to the raster data.
 3. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 1, wherein each of the inorganic members has a dielectric constant that is greater than that of the photo-cured resin material.
 4. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 3, wherein each of the inorganic members is a ceramic sinter.
 5. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 1, wherein the photocurable resin material forms a plurality of pores within the photocurable resin.
 6. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic members include a high-dielectric ceramic selected from the group consisting of BaTiO₃, PbTiO₃, NaVO₃, (Ba,SR)TiO₃, KNbO₃, LiTaO₃, (Ba,Pb)ZrO₃, Pb(Mg,W)ZrO₃, Pb(Mg,Nb)ZrO₃, CaTiO₃, and TiO₂.
 7. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the inorganic members is spherical.
 8. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 2, wherein the scanning laser light is ultraviolet laser light.
 9. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 2, wherein the stereolithographic step includes the steps of: providing a bath containing the photocurable resin material and a platform for manufacturing the three-dimensional component that is disposed in the bath; driving the platform so as to be gradually lowered to a predetermined height such that a portion of the photocurable resin material is disposed on the platform; reflecting laser light emitted from a laser light source with a scanning mirror toward the photocurable resin material disposed on the platform so as to cure the photocurable resin material disposed on the platform; and repeating the steps of driving the platform and reflecting the laser light so as to form the stacked layers.
 10. The method for manufacturing a three-dimensional photonic structure according to claim 1, wherein each of the concave portions is sized so as to accommodate an entire one of said inorganic members. 